All Spirited Speed
by Skyler-Kaiba
Summary: In this story, Sonic is badly wounded in the midst of a teleport to Freedom HQ with a very weak Shadow, and as a result, he, Eggman, Shadow, Silver, Knuckles and Tails are all taken to the woods outside Genkai's temple in a parallel dimension. Rated T for violence, a little gore, minor swearing and topics that could potentially make younger readers uncomfortable.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: So, this story came to me while I was working on another project. While initially it wasn't much, more has started to occur to me as I've re-watched the anime. As such, I feel more obligated to finish up the story and publish it as a webseries when it's done.

Chapter 1: Evil Geniuses and Colliding Worlds

One day, near Mobotropolis, Sonic and the Freedom Fighters were all fighting against a very tough mech that Eggman had built recently based on the designs of Metal Overlord and Omega. He had combined the two and captured Shadow, in order to try and power it as well. He had managed to do so by threatening everyone that the black hedgehog held dear, including his very close friends, Rouge and Omega from Team Dark. They were making some headway, but it wasn't proving to be one of the easiest battles they had ever faced, both emotionally and physically. Though exhausted, Sonic could easily see they weren't going to wrap this up very quickly, as he himself had also gotten injured.

Not wanting anyone to get cornered, and worried that Tails was going to ask him to leave and let everyone except for him handle the fighting because of his injuries, Sonic told him, "Tails...as much as I hate running from a fight, I think we need to regroup and come up with a better plan of getting rid of this thing than just attacking it head on. After all, Shadow's in there, and I don't think he's going to appreciate it if we mess him up too badly for Rouge. What do you think we should do?" For now, the injuries he got from the fight so far were not life-threatening, just some bruising on his stomach and small scratches on his arms and face. He did have a dislocated shoulder as well, but that had only happened because he had underestimated the robot and gotten himself pinned to a wall. However, he did manage to get himself unstuck by dislocating his shoulder and destroying the robot with a perfectly timed spin dash despite his injury.

He had not mentioned this particular injury to Tails or anyone else, but Sonic had known that if he brought up an injured shoulder, he would be told by Sally to leave, and he wasn't going to leave his friends in the middle of a battle. He needed to see this through to the end. Tails was standing right next to him, though, so it was going to be hard to hide the pain he was feeling right now. After a moment, Tails told him, "I think you're right about that. But, Eggman won't make it easy for us to get away from here." Noticing Sonic's injured state, Tails began to worry about his friend, but stayed quiet about it. He didn't say anything because he knew that this battle was far from over and Sonic would probably only get more injured as it went on. However, before he could speak his mind about what he _thought_ Sonic should be doing now, Sally wandered over to them and stayed close, having noticed Sonic's battle wounds. She told them, "Sonic, Tails...why don't you two focus on breaking Shadow out of the robot's power core? I doubt that he's appreciating being used as a living battery right now, particularly since it's Eggman's mech." She got a thoughtful look on her face for a moment, then added, "And I doubt GUN would appreciate it if we left one of their best agents in that kind of situation, when we were right there and able to help him, so...let's save an alliance by helping him out, okay?" She walked a little closer to Sonic, especially worried about him since he had been the robot's first target.

As she got closer to him, she noticed the bruising on him, the scratches, _and_ the dislocated shoulder. Sally sighed, walked so she was standing mere inches from Sonic, whispered in his ear and said, "Sonic, _you_ be _extra_ careful, okay? It looks like you already got pretty banged up. We don't need you dying."

Thinking that Sally was worrying a little much, despite everything, Sonic replied, sighing and rolling his eyes, "All right, Sal, I'll do my best. But I make no promises here. Anyway, Tails and I will free Shadow and then get out of here if you're that worried about my wounds, but it's just a few scratches and a bit of bruising."

Tails sighed and added, " _And_ a dislocated shoulder, Sonic. Don't think I didn't notice when you were standing next to me that something was off. Anyway, are you sure you want to try and break Shadow out of the mech with your shoulder all busted like that?"

Sonic nodded, "Yeah, I'm sure. Let's get this done and get Shadow back to Freedom HQ. I don't doubt that Eggman took his rings off, so he'll need the rest. I just hope we get into the mech before his unleashed power overwhelms and kills him."

With that, Sonic and Tails rushed the mech and focused their attacks on the mid-section, where they guessed the core and Shadow would be. The mech started to fall apart, and as they got closer to the large core section of the gargantuan robot, alarms started to go off and the thing grabbed Sonic by the throat, pulling him out to protect the sensitive core. Sonic struggled hard and tried to breathe. Tails spoke up, "Sonic!" Not wanting Sally's plan to free Shadow and then get him and Sonic to safety to go out the window, the young fox boy jumped onto the arm of the mech and punched it as hard as he could, not holding anything back. After a few hits, the robot dropped Sonic and he caught his breath.

Sonic then jumped up and homing attacked the badly damaged part of the mech, determined to free Shadow from his robot prison. When he finally broke through to the core, Sonic saw Shadow connected to the robot by various cords and wires, as well as his power rings hanging by a tether near, but not on him. Eggman was one of the few who knew that Shadow's rings were his weak points, and that only for a few moments, his true potential was also tapped then. Because of this, he had designed the core with a tether for the power rings so that Shadow could easily grab them when he started to weaken.

Not liking the look of this, the Blue Blur broke the lines connecting Shadow, catching him as he fell and gently laying him on the ground, then broke the tether holding the power rings and slipped them back on Shadow. Worried that he _may_ not have acted fast enough, Sonic asked, "Shadow, are you still with us?"

Shadow merely nodded his head, showing just how much energy had been taken from him while inside the mech. However, despite feeling so weak, he did mutter, "Yes, faker. I am still here. Thank you."

Sonic smiled and shook his head, responding, "No problem, Shadow. Let's get back to Freedom HQ now." He helped him to his feet and put his left arm around his shoulders, holding him up with one hand and supporting him with the rest of his body as he pulled out a Chaos Emerald. As he prepared to teleport them, Eggman called on one more robot, a back-up he had made for just in case Shadow had been freed.

The large mech approached the two, and the evil scientist ordered it to fire at the exact same moment Sonic had begun the transport. The laser beam hit the Blue Blur on his right side, making him scream in pain and lose his focus. Tails, worried from Sonic's scream, ran over and stopped next to him, as did Knuckles. Silver also came over, knowing that here, in his own time, Sonic was considered a hero and that if he died, people would lose hope. He hoped that there was something he'd be able to do to help. However, the next moment, as Sonic had already started the transportation sequence with the Chaos Emerald, it teleported everyone around Sonic to another place, more specifically, over to Earth, in the country of Japan.

To be even more specific, it teleported the hedgehogs, the fox and the echidna to the woods outside Master Genkai's temple. When they arrived there, the Mobians lost consciousness, as the sudden transference had worn them out due to the battle with Eggman. They weren't out for long, however. The next moment, Tails and Knuckles were the first to regain consciousness, as they hadn't been as injured as Sonic or Shadow. Frowning, Tails looked at Knuckles and said, "Sonic really needs help right now. We should look around and try to find somebody." Knuckles nodded his head and told Tails, "I'll walk around and see what I can find. When Silver comes to, have him help look as well. Where are we anyway?"

Tails looked around and told him, "It looks like we're on Earth now. I'm not sure exactly where yet, but I can probably figure it out if I can fly high enough and get an overview."

Knuckles nodded and responded, "Then go ahead and fly up. I'll keep an eye on Sonic and the others for a sec."

Tails nodded a response and flew up high, clearing the trees. When he was out in the open, the twin-tailed fox gasped and clapped his hands in excitement. He then landed again and told Knuckles, "We're in Japan, Knuckles. I wonder what happened to bring us all the way out here though?"

Silver, groaning as he regained consciousness, managed to hear Tails and told him, "Well, Sonic did get shot with a laser when he was trying to teleport Shadow to safety. It's entirely possible that the laser beam made him lose his concentration on Freedom HQ and send us to another place. Though I'm not entirely sure why his brain defaulted to Japan. That is kind of strange."

Breaking the fourth wall, Knuckles answered him, "Well, to be fair, that's where his games got their start. Perhaps that's why. Regardless of that, though, we've got to get him some help. The fact that he hasn't woken up yet is a little unsettling."

Tails nodded in agreement, then added, "We should probably wake Shadow up too. I know he suffered a lot in the battle, perhaps even more than any of us...but he's stronger than Sonic. I'm surprised he-"

Before the yellow fox could finish his sentence, the black and red hedgehog spoke up and said, "Calm down, Tails, I'm up. What's the situation?"

Knuckles explained, "We're on Earth, somewhere in Japan. Apparently Sonic was in so much pain from Eggman's final attack that he lost his focus during the teleport with you and sent everyone around him here. We need to find him some help, so we were going to…" He trailed off, noticing two people heading their way. One of them had hair a deep crimson, and the other had black hair with a white starburst pattern near the front. He tensed and clenched a tight fist, moving protectively in front of the injured Sonic.

Noticing Knuckles sudden movements, Shadow looked over, noticed the two strangers as well, and went to stand next to Knuckles. After all, he owed Sonic for breaking him free of the robot. What better way to pay back this debt than to keep him safe while he couldn't do anything to protect himself? Though he had no way of telling for certain that these two intended to harm Sonic, he didn't want to take any chances.

Tails also looked over and sensed that the two were demons, though they didn't seem to have any ill intentions toward anyone. They had probably just come to ascertain who had suddenly appeared on their world and caused some commotion in the woods. He told Knuckles and Shadow, "Hold on, guys. I don't think these two mean us any harm. After all, this is _their_ world. We're probably just as foreign to them as they are to us. Don't do anything. I wanna try and talk this out first."

Knuckles and Shadow both nodded their heads, then looked at each other. An understanding seemed to pass between them, and Knuckles followed Tails as he approached Kurama and Hiei.

Somewhat awestruck that a young fox child was among them, Kurama nodded to Knuckles and Tails. He told them, "Hello boys. What has happened?" He looked past them to the blue hedgehog on the ground, who appeared to be injured. Though he didn't know what had happened before they arrived, he could tell just from the young anthro's injuries that it couldn't have been anything good.

Trying to summarize in a way that would make sense to the fox demon, Tails told him, "Well, we were in the middle of a battle. My friend behind me, Sonic...tried to teleport himself and Shadow back home, but Eggman shot him in the middle of that and we ended up here by mistake. Sorry if we alarmed you."

Kurama frowned and nodded, "He must have some incredible powers if he lost focus and brought you _here_. How badly are all of you hurt?"

Tails explained, "I'm not hurt that badly, and neither are Knuckles or Silver, thankfully. It's Sonic and Shadow that I'm worried about. Is there...anything you could do to help them?"

Kurama told him, "Unfortunately, I'm not a healer. I have a friend named Yukina that may be able to help them, but...let's talk a little more first. I just want to be sure you won't harm anyone. I hope you understand."

Tails smiled and nodded, "Sure, we can talk a little more. I understand."

After a little more conversation with Kurama, Hiei finally spoke up, nodding, "I am Hiei. I am a close friend of Kurama's." This was all the personal information he was going to give them for now. As was usual for Hiei, he didn't trust the stranded Freedom Fighters that much yet. It would take him some time before he'd be comfortable disclosing that Mukuro was his mate and they had a child on the way.

Tails, being an intelligent fox that was also good at reading people, like his mother was, told him, "I think there's more to you than that, Hiei. But if you're not comfortable telling us everything about yourself, that's fine. After all, we can't expect you to completely trust us right from the get-go. Anyway, where is this Yukina person? The longer we take getting Sonic some help, the worse his injuries get, and I, for one, don't want to lose him."

Kurama explained, "She's in the temple at the far end of these woods. Follow us and we'll get you there."

Tails nodded and asked Knuckles, "Why don't you carry Sonic? You're the strongest."

Knuckles replied, "Okay." He picked up Sonic and looked at Kurama and Hiei. Though they had spoken to the two some, he still had some distrust of them. It would probably go away after some time, but there was no telling how long they would be here, so he was questioning whether or not it would even be worth it to try and make friends.

Kurama explained, trying to speak to Knuckles' concerns, "Due to the extent of your friend's injuries, I'm going to guess he won't be up to teleporting anyone anywhere for quite some time. I think you should count on being stranded here for quite a while. Are you boys the only ones that came from Mobius?" Hiei had managed to read Tails' mind and get the name of their homeworld, then relayed that information to him psychically using the Jagan.

Thinking a moment, Silver gasped and shook his head, "No. I think Eggman was brought over here to your dimension too." He growled and clenched a fist, "Which won't turn out well with Sonic out of commission."

Hiei asked simply, "Why?"

Tails sighed and explained, "Because he can roboticize people, turning them from human or demon, into a robot under his command. They basically become his pawns."

Kurama, thinking of Yomi and his human mother, growled and told him, "Why didn't you speak of this earlier, Tails?"

Tails replied, almost ready to shout out at him, "Because I wasn't sure if he was close enough to Sonic for it to have mattered, okay?!"

Kurama, knowing that Tails was only on edge because Sonic was in serious condition, sighed and told him, "Oh, all right. Calm down, there's no need to get upset. Let's get your friend to Genkai."

Not saying another word, Kurama and Hiei started leading the group of Freedom Fighters back to Genkai's temple. As they made their way through the woods, Hiei sensed another mind, one in turmoil and great pain. But it wasn't Sonic. He stopped and looked around, looking for the source of the unrest. Sure, these woods were deep and dark, but it wouldn't be enough to put a normal demon at such unrest, unless...unless something was terribly wrong with them. When they were almost to Genkai's, Touya, one of their friends from the Dark Tournament, emerged from the brush, writhing in pain and a strange gray growth on his arm.

Not recognizing his symptoms, Hiei growled and rushed over to the ice apparition, "It was you whose thoughts I was sensing. What has happened to you, Touya?"

Touya, breathing hard, explained, "Some...man in a..red lab coat...he's turning demons…"

Kurama, remembering what Tails had told him earlier, asked, "Man in a red lab coat? And he's turning demons into what?"

Tails spoke up, managing to make sense of Touya's sickly babbling, explained, "The man in a red lab coat has to be Eggman. Wait...are you saying he's roboticizing demons?"

Touya, smiling and nodding because of Tails' intelligence, and the fact that though he was young, he was still able to make sense of what he said, replied, "Yes." He lost consciousness the next instant, but Kurama told Hiei to put him on his back and they'd take him to Genkai and Yukina. Perhaps they'd be able to keep him from turning completely into a robot, and perhaps even reverse the damage the nanites had done to his body.

Tails explained, "Roboticization isn't that easy to undo or fix. It's not just wounds. It's a complete bodily invasion. I know how to cure it, but I'm not sure if you guys have what I need."

Kurama, now even more concerned because of Touya's poor condition, asked, "What do you need? If you can cure my friend Touya of this, please do so soon! I don't...I don't wish to lose him to Eggman. If he's as genius and ruthless as you say he is, we have a lot to be concerned about if he turns any of our friends into his pawns." He frowned as a dark thought crossed his mind, but he told the others of his concern, as he didn't want to hide anything, "Particularly Yomi. Even Yusuke and I had trouble with Yomi. Neither of us defeated him. If he gets under Eggman's control and is unleashed upon the humans here…" He trembled and teared up, knowing full well how humanity would react to the demon leader's more beastly side, "it...won't end well for anyone. I'll be forced to choose where I want to live, demons will be sealed away in Makai forever, and Spirit World will no longer care about the fact that some demons are completely harmless. Even young maidens like Yukina."

Hiei growled and clenched a fist, gently jabbing Kurama in the side, "Yukina is pregnant, Kurama. Hers is a special case."

Kurama smiled and nodded, "Yes, I suppose she is an exception. The fact that Kuwabara and Yukina are expecting may very well work in their favor, but it won't cover other demons." He was worried not only about himself, but also Yusuke. Though they weren't particularly aggressive, Yusuke and himself could be seen as too large a threat to humans to be allowed to remain in the world much longer. Hiei reassured him, "You can make a case for Yusuke as well. He's in love with Keiko, and she's a human as well. Though they aren't expecting a child yet, they are planning to get married in a few weeks, Kurama. And spirit world knows that. To tear those two apart because Yusuke isn't 100% human could start World War III with demon world, and I think that's the last thing they want." He knew of Kurama's...other concern and spoke to it as well, "Botan just became human for you a few days ago, Kurama. That should've told Spirit World that you truly have changed and left your past as a thief behind you. After all, she was _their_ Grim Reaper. Though I'm not entirely sure 'Grim' is the word I would use for her."

Kurama nodded, his concerns met. After their conversation ended, things fell silent for a while. Moments before they reached the temple, Sonic groaned and regained consciousness. Seeing Kurama and Hiei, he jumped off Knuckles and kicked Kurama in the shoulder, hard.

Sensing Sonic's confusion and tension, Hiei growled and shoved him away from Kurama and Touya, as he explained, "Calm down, boy! We _were_ helping you."

Tails looked at Sonic, who was now on the ground and glaring at Hiei. He explained, "Sonic, he's right. Those guys were leading us to a healer so we could get fixed up from our fight with Eggman. They _weren't_ _hurting_ us. Please, settle down."

Kurama, gripping his shoulder a bit and looking at Touya, who was thankfully still unconscious despite being dropped, responded, "I'm sorry if we startled you. If I woke up being carried around a strange land, I'd have the same reaction. But please, take it easy. We don't mean any harm."

Sonic asked, his green eyes purposely glued on Touya, "Then what's wrong with him? And how do I know that you won't hurt my friends?"

Tails sighed and added, "Sonic...that guy's being _roboticized_ , and Kurama _doesn't know how_ to do _that_. Besides, I think if those two wanted to hurt us, we wouldn't even be having this conversation."

Shadow smirked and shrugged, "He's got a point."

Sonic sighed and nodded, "Yeah, yeah, okay." He winced and fell over, clutching his side and trying not to cry from the pain of his injuries, now that he had calmed down some.

Noticing Sonic's pain, Kurama looked at Hiei and told him, "Run over and get Yukina. I fear this boy's injuries are far worse than he was initially letting on."

Hiei nodded and raced to the top of the stone staircase, then through the archway and onto the grounds of Genkai's temple. He noticed Yukina and Genkai having a conversation, and as much as he hated interrupting those beautiful woman-to-woman moments, they had an urgent task. After reaching the well, he cleared his throat to get their attention.

Noticing this, Yukina looked over and nodded as she sensed Hiei's aura. She sensed the slight uneasiness left behind by his contact with Sonic and the others, and asked, "Hello, Hiei. What's going on? Why the rush?"

Genkai sensed it as well and asked, "Has someone been injured?"

Hiei nodded, "Yes. A young blue anthro by the name of Sonic the Hedgehog. I'd say he's close to Kuwabara's age." (A/N: Sorry to interrupt here, but this takes place a few years after the end of series. Hence why Botan is human, Yukina and Kuwabara are having a child, and Keiko and Yusuke are getting married. As a note, Yukina is having twins, but she's barely even showing at the moment. I think demon pregnancies are probably slightly different than human pregnancies, as the pregnancies are probably carried slightly more to the back of the body so that they aren't as apparent to predators or Spirit World's spies. Anyway, let's continue!)

Genkai nodded, "I see. Please get him here soon then. How serious are his injuries?" She asked as she grabbed a bowl and headed outside to her well.

Hiei followed her and said, "Pretty serious. He has a terrible laser burn on his side, a dislocated shoulder and some scratches on his arms and face. I don't know what type of battle he was in, but it must have been a serious one if he got that injured from it."

Not long after Hiei had finished speaking, Shadow rushed into the temple through the open door, carrying Sonic.

Yukina, startled by the black and red hedgehog, yelped and stepped back, "Who...who are you two?"

Hiei smirked, "Hn. Seems like someone got impatient. And you all say _I_ have no patience."

Genkai rolled her eyes and sighed, shaking her head as she made her way back to the temple, "We'll tend to them, Hiei. If that other hedgehog that brought the blue one in thinks that it's serious enough to warrant _immediate_ attention, it probably is. Just from his aura, I can postulate that he only _rushes_ someone that _needs_ help _to_ where _they_ _get it_ _**if**_ the situation _is_ serious." She frowned, sensing that he had pushed himself a little as well, "In fact, he thought it was so serious that he's almost depleted himself, the idiot." She sighed and shook her head, "That kind of behavior reminds me of younger Yusuke. Anyway, let's go and help them."

Once they got to the room, Hiei picked up Shadow easily and moved him to a bed, while Genkai and Yukina took care of Sonic. Not long after the Blue Blur's treatment had begun, Kurama arrived with Tails and the others. Genkai asked, "Is this all?"

Tails spoke up, though reluctantly, and said, "That's all of us that _aren't human_ , anyway."

Yukina looked confused for a moment and asked, "What do you mean?"

Knuckles sighed and said, "He means Eggman, a villain from our world. He's human, but he's an evil scientist. And unfortunately...one of Kurama's friends has started to be roboticized."

Angry and upset because Touya was in such a bad situation, Kurama lay Touya on a bed and tried to walk out of the room, not wanting Tails and his friends to witness his darker emotions. However, before he was completely out of the room, Hiei grabbed his elbow and shook his head, "They need to see that you aren't above this either. Just let go. I'm here for you, my friend."

Sighing and nodding, Kurama let go and cried, not only saddened by the prospect of losing a friend to Eggman, but also afraid for Botan, his human mother, his stepbrother, his stepfather, and Yomi.

Yukina spoke up and told Kurama, "Umm...Kurama, maybe it's not my place to say, but if you're that worried about your family, why don't you go and be with them? You can protect them a lot better when you're alongside them. As Yusuke can attest to."

Kurama trembled and clenched a fist, yelling at her and letting her know his concern for his demon world friends, "And what about Yomi?! I can't be in two places at once, Yukina."

Hiei sighed and spoke up, "Yomi would want you to stay as well, I believe. He knows how much your human family means to you, Kurama, as do most of us. Although...only Koenma and a few in demon world know of your feelings for Botan. But I wouldn't worry about her. As the past has showed us, she can take care of herself. She's a former Grim Reaper, after all." He was, of course, referring to when the Saint Beasts were demanding Spirit World release them.

Kurama chuckled and nodded, having overheard some of what Botan had said to Yusuke through the communication mirror, "Yes, you make a good point, Hiei. Anyway, let us leave them alone a while so they can rest. We'll see what we can do about Eggman...later?" He had heard a noise in Genkai's yard.

Hiei tensed, having heard the noise as well.

Knuckles, Silver and Tails tensed up as well, ready to help Kurama and Hiei if something large and aggressive was threatening them.

The next moment, Yomi appeared in Genkai's yard, his arm, leg and stomach covered in the same gray sheen that Touya had. He growled loudly and began to approach the temple.

Kurama, recognizing Yomi's voice, tensed up and punched the ground with a yell. Eggman had taken it too far. Taking over one of his best friends, and making him fear for his family? What was the evil genius going to do next, kill Genkai? He hoped not. THat would truly unleash Yusuke's wrath and the boy would be inconsolable once the threat was gone.

Hiei, recognizing Kurama's conflicting emotions, told Knuckles, Silver and Tails, "You all come with me. We don't have to kill Yomi, but we must at least knock him out. And Tails...we'll try to find you what you need. Whatever it is."

Tails explained, "I need two portable closets, a power source, a lot of metal, and a large control panel. Where will I find that here?"

Hiei told him, "The portable closets, you'll probably be able to buy at a furniture store or department store, a power source, hardware store. Hunks of metal, you'll probably be able to get at a recycling center, and a large control panel, you'll probably need to buy from a computer store. Is that all?"

Tails nodded, "Yeah, that's it. Thank you, Hiei."

Hiei nodded, "You're welcome. Why don't you take Shadow with you and get all that while Knuckles and I handle Yomi?"

Yusuke walked into the room seconds later, having sensed Yomi, and said, "You mean, you, Knuckles _and_ me. I think only two guys is not gonna be enough."

Genkai spoked up, asking, "So, what brings you out here, dimwit?"

Yusuke sighed and responded, "Keiko and I got into an argument. It wasn't over anything stupid, but...well, we're taking a break. We're still getting married, but we needed some time apart. Make sense?"

Kurama nodded, "It does to me."

Yukina asked, "Do you mind...telling me what it was about, Yusuke? I might be able to help."

Yusuke sighed and shook his head, "No, Yukina. Leave Keiko alone right now. I know you two are practically sisters, but she just wants to be left alone. I'm guessing she's...nervous about the wedding night. Not that I blame her. I'm a little nervous too."

Kurama asked, not wanting to be improper, but also curious, "Have you two ever…?"

Yusuke cut him off, knowing exactly where his line of questioning was going, answering him, "No. As much as we've wanted to, we've held off. Mostly because we wanted to wait until after the wedding, to make it that much more amazing for both of us."

Hiei smirked and nodded, "Then kudos to you. At least you have more self-control than that loser, Kuwabara. He slept with Yukina the night _before_ the wedding."

Yusuke joked with him, "Yeah, but you and Mukuro didn't exactly wait either, short stuff. You two slept together _two days_ after the end of the tournament that decided Enki was demon world's ruler."

Hiei rolled his eyes, "I didn't claim to be innocent of it. I was only making an observation, so lay off me." He sighed and added, "Anyway, let's go knock out Yomi. Yusuke, you've come the closest to defeating him, so any tips you have concerning fighting him would be helpful."

The two of them, Knuckles and Silver all went outside to deal with Yomi. A moment later, however, before anyone could stop him, Kurama got up as well and went outside.

Yukina gasped and rose to her feet, going to the door. She said, "No, Kurama, you don't.." Before she could finish what she was saying, Kurama was already outside, trying to help the others.

Yusuke noticed Kurama come out and sighed, shaking his head, "Kurama, Tails explained roboticization to me. I don't think Yomi's gonna recognize you enough to know who you are and let you talk to him. So please, go back inside and let us be the ones to handle this. Okay?"

Kurama growled and shook his head, "I have to _try_ , Yusuke! If I don't try to reach out to Yomi, I'll feel like I was a bad friend."

Tails explained, shaking his head as well, "No, you'd be a bad friend if you stood there and took the beating. Trying to reach out isn't a bad thing, but there's no guarantee your words will get through to him."

Kurama sighed and said, "Yusuke...please, try to hold him down and let me speak to him. At least for a moment."

Yusuke nodded, though his brown eyes held a bit of reluctance, "All right. We'll try diplomacy once, but if it doesn't work and you get hurt, I'm wiping the floor with his face. The last thing we need is the smart one from our team to go comatose from underestimating the roboticization."

Kurama smiled and nodded, "Thank you, Yusuke. Let's do this!"

The next moment, Yusuke, he and Silver launched at Yomi, having made something of a plan within moments of the conversation end via telepathy on Kurama's side.

Silver surrounded Yomi in his bluish aura and pushed him toward Yusuke, who latched onto his arms and legs like a vice grip. He then yelled at Kurama, "Okay, Kurama! Hurry, talk to him!"

Kurama ran over and got right next to Yomi's face. He said, "Yomi...please...settle down, it's me. I'm your friend, Kurama. Please, don't harm anyone here. I don't want to have to hurt you."

Yomi, not caring and still under the 'spell' of roboticization, yelled and managed to push Yusuke off him, sending him flying headfirst towards a tree. Though the former Spirit Detective managed to right himself in the air and land on his feet on the trunk, it was clear that negotiation with Yomi would not work. The former demon world leader then grabbed a knife that he had on his belt the entire time, and slashed Kurama in the gut, eliciting a scream of pained surprise from the redhead.

The former fox demon teared up and trembled, grabbing Yomi's wrist and trying to hold him back from hurting anyone else despite being wounded, "Then...I apologize...my friend." He jumped back, away from the fray, and nodded to Yusuke and the others.

Yusuke, relieved that Kurama had backed down, nodded back and he, Hiei, and Knuckles proceeded to fight Yomi. After a long battle, the former demon leader was knocked out, though Hiei got injured in the process. Yusuke picked up the hurt half-Koorime and told him, "Hiei, you gotta stop holding back cause they're Kurama's friends. After all, he did give you the okay."

Hiei smirked and told him, "We were only knocking him out, Yusuke, not killing him. Though I'm starting to suspect that's what you _want_ to do to Eggman now that you know what he's capable of." Not long after they ended the conversation, Kurama lost consciousness from the knife wound on his stomach, and Yusuke rushed him inside. Knuckles and Tails followed, worried about the toll the battle had taken on the redhead.

Hiei carried Yomi in, hoping his twin sister could reverse what the roboticization had done to a mutual friend of him and Kurama.

Yukina healed Kurama's wound, and did what she could for Hiei's twisted ankle, but then said, "Hiei, you did some serious damage to your ankle, so you need to take it easy for a while. That was a tough fight, wasn't it?" She then went over to Yomi and frowned, "I...don't know even where to begin with him. I've never seen an illness like this before."

Hiei nodded, "Yes, Yukina. It was very tough."

Tails explained to Yukina, "I'm not surprised. It's roboticization, and not easily fixed."

Yusuke added, "I'm surprised you didn't _break_ your ankle with the move you pulled."

Hiei shrugged, "I couldn't help myself. I just wanted to avoid further injury, but also keep Sonic safe. Though I don't know much about him, I already feel we are kindred spirits in some ways."

Tails, for some reason trusting Hiei more than any of the other Reikai Tantei group, but not entirely sure why, explained, "Well...to be fair, Sonic _did_ have a really messed up childhood. I won't go into details, because it's not my place. But, let's just say it wasn't normal for now and leave it at that. He can tell you more later if he wants."

Yusuke asked, "You seem to know a lot though. You grow up next to him or something?"

Tails nodded, "Yes. I've been his friend since I was a baby. Though we do argue sometimes, we're like brothers. I look up to him."

Hiei smirked and nodded as well, adding, "That explains your attitude when we initially found you then. You were worried about him."

Tails responded, "Uh yeah, duh. When someone's like a big brother to you, you want them to stay safe and not be hurt like that. Seeing Sonic so beat up and vulnerable...it always bothers me. He's super strong so...seeing him on the ground bleeding and burned is tough." He looked over to Sonic, who now had his side, face and arms bandaged. A blanket covered his legs as he rested.

The next moment, Yomi yelled again and began to move around in the bed that Hiei had laid him in, not staying unconscious for very long due to his extreme strength and the part of him that was roboticized. He rose quickly to his feet and left the temple, going to Kurama's human home with the intention of killing his very human family. With every ounce of strength and speed he possessed, Yusuke dashed after the former Demon World ruler, not wanting Kurama riled up when he awakened again.

When they reached the redhead's home, Yomi dashed inside the dwelling and went for Shiori first, knowing her to be the weakest since she had been the one to give birth to the reborn fox demon. He hit her with a very powerful energy blast, which burned her but didn't immediately kill her. He then went for Kurama's stepfather, and killed him within a few hits. He was going to kill the boy with the same human name as the reborn Kurama, but something within him fought back, and as he hit the boy, Yusuke fired his Spirit Gun, hitting him in the back at the exact same moment. Shuiichi fell to the ground. Though wounded, the former Demon World leader picked up the injured human teenager and began to run away, knowing that keeping the boy captive could serve as an ace in the hole against Spirit World, Sonic and the Reikai Tantei.

Seeing what he was trying to do, Yusuke charged at the two, but was deflected when he got hit in the side by a very strong energy blast that had a purplish color, almost the same color as Yomi's normal energy except for a slight gray undertone due to the roboticization. From the aura reading, he guessed that Yomi was trying to fight the roboticization on his own, but wasn't having much success. He muttered, "I hope that...Tails and the others get back...soon." He fired off a Spirit Gun to get their attention and then lost consciousness from the hit.

Sonic, having noticed the large blue energy blast from Yusuke's direction, gasped and ran to the door at Genkai's temple, despite his wounds. He wanted to go help him, but was still hurting from his earlier battle with Eggman. Yukina sighed and shook her head, quickly going to stand near him. She grabbed him and gently said, "Sonic, calm down. There's nothing you can do right now. Tails and the others will find him and get him back to us. Until then, you need to relax." Despite being only a foot or so taller than Sonic, and being pregnant, she managed to keep him still and after a moment, the Blue Blur calmed down, having sensed the growing lives inside her.

He smiled and nodded, asking her, "So, who's the father?"

Yukina blushed and giggled, nodding back and responding, "Kazuma Kuwabara. He's a friend of Yusuke, Kurama and Hiei. You'll probably see him soon. He's come by the temple much more often now that I'm pregnant. And it's not just one baby, it's two. One's a girl, as my kind, the Koorime, are all born with inactive embryos inside them from birth. The other is a boy, half-human and half ice demon." She teared up, a little afraid, though she hadn't yet voiced her concerns to anyone. She hadn't even told Keiko her fears regarding her pregnancy.

Sensing her innate fear and noticing the tears forming in her eyes,Sonic put a hand on her shoulder and asked, "What's wrong? It sounds like you have a pretty good life, and yet...you look kind of sad." ((A/N: No, Sonic's not being nosy. He's trying to make her feel a little better to get in Hiei's good graces.))

Yukina, not sure if she wanted to concern Sonic with her personal baggage, answered him, "Oh. Well…" She didn't want to tell him everything yet, as she barely knew him, but also could sense that he was smart and not likely to let it go unless he was told something at least _along the same line_ as to what was bothering her. Sighing, she continued and told him, "Truthfully, I'm a little scared. I mean, while my mother survived a twin birth, hers were both demon babies. I guess I'm worried that my half-human child won't survive long."

Sonic, though he could tell she wasn't telling him everything, could also imply that she was telling him as much as she was comfortable speaking about at the moment. He smiled and nodded, "Well, I wouldn't worry too much. If the boy is anything like you, I'm sure he'll survive. You're a tough gal, Yukina."

Much later, Tails and the others found Yusuke and brought him back to the temple, along with the supplies the young fox would need to build a _de_ -roboticizer. When he regained consciousness, Yusuke ran to the door. Knowing how injured the half-human likely was, Shadow stood in his path and said, "Calm down, you idiot. Yomi's long gone. What's the matter?"

Yusuke replied, just as Kurama sat up, "Shuiichi's been kidnapped by Yomi. He wanted to use the boy as a bargaining chip."

Kurama growled and bolted, having regained his full strength despite not having as much time to heal. Being a former fox demon had its perks, it seemed.

Hiei punched Yusuke in the mouth, annoyed at him, "How could you let that happen?!"

Tails growled and yelled at both boys, "Stop it, you two!"

Yukina nodded in agreement with Tails, and told them, "Based on Yusuke's emotional state, I'm guessing he _tried_ to keep the boy safe, Hiei. Please calm down."

Shadow then spoke up, asking, "So, what are we going to do about Kurama and his brother?"

Genkai told them, "It'd probably be best if Yusuke, Hiei, Kuwabara, Knuckles, Shadow, Silver, Tails and Sonic teamed up to go and get them back. If demons really are being roboticized, getting to where the boy's likely being held isn't going to be easy. Eggman probably roboticized one of the former demon world leaders in order to get himself a stronghold over there. And with a human child captive and Kurama on his own, Spirit World's hands are tied. It's up to us now to rescue demon world and protect the humans that…" She trailed off, sensing the faint energy of Shiori, Kurama's human mother. Frowning, she clenched a fist and ran to the top of the stairs leading to her temple.

Upon her arrival at the long stairway, Shiori recognized the woman her red-haired son had mentioned a few times and smiled weakly back, nodding. She muttered, "Master...Genkai…" She had been about to say more, but before any more words could leave her, she fell over onto the stairs. Worried that the woman could die and sensing the stress in her tone, Genkai rushed down the stairs and helped her up as much as she could. She asked, "Yes, what is it, dear?"

Shiori told her, "Please tell...my Shuichii, that I'm sorry I couldn't...keep his brother safe." She was on the verge of tears.

Genkai touched the side of her face, trying to be comforting and give the woman some peace in what were likely to be her last few moments. The girl's energy was going fast and she didn't have the strength to stop it now, but she told her, "I'm sure that your son doesn't blame you, Shiori. Can you tell me what happened?"

Shiori related to Genkai what had happened at Kurama's human dwelling, then died in her arms.

Saddened by the loss of such a good soul, the old woman punched the ground, then carried Shiori's corpse up the stairwell. She lay her down, dug a hole, then wrapped her body in a blanket and put her in that same hole. She made a makeshift wooden cross and put it on the grave, then went back to the others.

Yusuke asked, "So...did Kurama go back home at all, or just go straight to Demon World?"

Genkai told him, "He went back home first...unfortunately. When he found his human stepfather dead and Shiori dying, he completely lost it and went to Demon World." She clenched a fist and teared up, a little angry at Kurama for having left Shiori's side and in a frightened state as well. She then added, "And to top it all off, he was worried about his human stepbrother and what could be happening to him, so we've got a very angry Kurama running loose in Demon World. Which we all know isn't good for anyone."

Hiei asked, "How do you know all this?"

Genkai answered directly, "Shiori told me in her dying moments. Kurama was the last person she saw before me."

Tails gasped and trembled, a little shaken by the fact that someone had already died because of Eggman's manipulation. He screamed and punched a wall, "All right. Enough delay. I'm putting together that de-roboticizer. _Now_!" No one among the Reikai Tantei had ever seen this side of Tails, so it was kind of a shock to Hiei, Yusuke, Yukina and Genkai. The young fox soon left the room, carrying the supplies he would need with the help of Knuckles, and arrived at the beach not far from the temple. He worked for a long time, but finally managed to build something to hopefully undo what Eggman had done to Touya and Yomi. He nodded to Knuckles and said, "I just need a test subject and the de-roboticizer will be up and running. Could you bring Touya?"

Yusuke had followed them, though undetected because he had disguised his aura, and set Touya on the ground, "No need, he's right here. Are you sure this is gonna work, Tails?"

Tails replied, "It should. But I won't know for certain until I've tried it on somebody, so please put Touya in the left-hand cabinet. He should come out normal on the right-hand side if my calculations were correct."

Yusuke nodded and placed Touya inside the closet. He then said, "All right, there you go, Einstein. Let's hope your little machine does the trick. Because I, for one, don't want to have to face Touya if it doesn't."

Tails pressed a few buttons and the de-roboticizer he had managed to build began to hum and then the two closets glowed, a sign that something was happening. A few minutes later, Touya appeared in the other closet, completely restored, although still very weak. He sighed and nodded, "It worked. He's normal again. But it doesn't seem like it returned his strength to him."

Yusuke replied, "Well, to be fair, he was just changed back _to_ being made of flesh _from_ being a machine. It doesn't surprise me. Anyway, thank you for helping Touya. It'll help us get through to Kurama. Can you do the same for Yomi?"

Tails nodded, "Yes, but it won't be nearly as quick. Yomi's in a more advanced stage of roboticization. The change back, could take hours and would take a larger toll on his body. It won't kill him, but he wouldn't be strong enough to go and talk to Kurama. Touya can, since he wasn't nearly as far in. But when you go and try to retrieve Kurama and his brother, please be careful. Eggman likely didn't stop with these two." Before the two could say anything more to each other, there was a faint knocking on the door of the right hand cabinet.

Touya weakly mumbled, "Can you let me out of here now? It's kind of dark in here."

Yusuke, recognizing Touya's normal voice, nodded and went over to the cabinet. He opened it and helped the ice apparition out, holding him up since he wasn't strong enough to stand on his own yet. He asked, "How are you feeling?"

Touya told him, "A little tired, but otherwise okay. Where's Kurama?"

Yusuke explained, "Demon world. Yomi got roboticized like you and took his human stepbrother there as a bargaining chip. Are you up to coming with me and a few others to try and get them back?"

Touya nodded, "Let me get a few hours of rest and I should be fine."

Yusuke responded, "We'll leave at sunrise then. We shouldn't wait too long. Kurama could easily get hurt again. He _just_ got over an injury after fighting Yomi with me and a few others. And I'm not even sure he _was_ fully healed." After a good night's sleep, Yusuke gathered up the team Genkai had suggested to him and left for Demon World.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Sorry it's taken me so long to add more to this story. Been meaning to update for a while, but due to IRL stuff getting more busy, Breath of the Wild's DLC, and becoming more active with my church, I have not had as much time to myself to sit down and write stories, or even do much with the readings I am supposed to be doing. Planning to do a lot of catch up these next few days, so hopefully everything is caught up by Tuesday. May mean not sleeping some, but I'm cool with that. So long as I don't keep everyone else up, should be fine.

All Spirited Speed

Chapter 2: Rescue, Normalcy and Competitions

Upon arriving in Demon World, Yusuke and the others found Kurama, badly wounded in a forest near Gandara, Yomi's old fortress. Yusuke rushed over to Kurama, who was leaning heavily on a tree and had bruises on his arms and a horrible gash on his side. His older injuries from the fight with Yomi appeared to be mostly healed and scarred or scabbed over, but he still appeared to be in pain. He asked, "Kurama, what happened?"

Kurama, a little relieved and also glad to see Yusuke had come to help him, responded, "Yusuke...it's good to see you. I...caught up with Yomi, but...he fought back when I tried to release my brother from him. Unfortunately...Shura…" He frowned and shook his head, still shaking off what the juvenile demon had done.

Yusuke's eyes widened at the mention of Shura, and he asked, "What'd the kid do?"

Kurama sighed, tearing up and clenching a fist, then explained, "He saw Yomi and I fighting and misinterpreted it. He had his father's old sword on him and lashed out at me. When I tried to explain what happened, he got angry and said I had no right to assault his father like that and ran off, since he knew I would be too powerful for him to fight on his own."

Yusuke folded his arms, "Well, it wasn't right of him to act that way for sure, but...he didn't know about the roboticization, so…"

Kurama responded, "He didn't know, but he should have been able to tell just by looking at him. The roboticization has grown on his body, to where it's on one of his legs now. Guh..." He coughed a little blood, turning to show that the gash on his side, stopped a few inches just above his belly button. The wound was a lot worse than he had let on. He almost fell over, but Sonic dashed over and held him up, responding, "Doesn't matter about Yomi right now, at least to you. What needs to happen with you is that you need to go back to Genkai and Yukina to get healed. Hiei, could you take Kurama on back and then meet us outside Yomi's old fortress? I have a feeling that Eggman probably didn't leave it alone."

Yusuke looked confused, "What would Eggman want with it?"

Sonic explained, "He could make it into a lab very easily."

Kurama sighed, "Yomi has been roboticized, so he may or may not care. Until we get him healed, there is no real way to tell how he will react."

Tails then added, "His reaction won't matter to Eggman. If he means to roboticize demons in order to weaponize them and use them on Sonic, he won't stop until the demons outnumber us. We need to not only kick him out of that fortress, but also destroy the roboticizer he made. Though how he built one so quickly is beyond me."

Shadow spoke up and explained, "He's known to be resourceful. He probably utilized any existing spare metal that Yomi had laying around the fortress and built it with that. He probably hacked into Yomi's power grid as well to get the needed energy."

Sonic nodded in agreement, then told Kurama, "We'll take your friend's home back, but we'll all need to team up for that. So until you're better, Shadow and Tails are going to monitor Eggman and the roboticizer. Touya, Hiei, you two protect them. The last thing I want to happen is for anyone to get hurt in trying to gather information. Just don't hang around Gandara...too much. Find somewhere else to be every few hours so that Eggman and any demons he roboticized don't get suspicious of you." He clenched a tight fist, then sighed and added, "But if they do spot you and start to attack, run. You'll be too outnumbered to try and take them on yourself."

Yusuke nodded and added, "That, or try calling for help. Every now and then, Hokushin makes a trip to Gandara to test Shura's capabilities, to make sure he's keeping up to speed and living up to his genetic potential. He'll notice if something's up."

Tails gulped but nodded his head, "All right...we'll stay here and gather intel. But Sonic...just in case..." He flew over to Sonic, landed next to him and hugged him.

Sonic hugged back, but then chuckled and responded, "I don't think anything too serious is gonna happen with a simple fact-finding mission for you and Shadow, but I guess you never really know. Good luck, Tails."

Silver then asked, "And what are we gonna do?"

Knuckles explained, "We're splitting up. Some of us will stay here in Demon world, to try and stave off the threat of invasion of Human World by demons that got tranformed by Eggman, while the others will go back to Human world and protect people from that side."

Touya nodded, "So we're a living buffer. It makes sense. I just hope that Enki wasn't roboticized. That would be bad for all three worlds. It would mean that while Enki's under that mad doctor's control, we will need to hold another tournament to decide a new king."

Yusuke shrugged, "Maybe, maybe not. The way I see it, demon world could use a new government. Anyway...all right, here's the rundown of who is on what team. Hiei, you, Knuckles, and Silver and Sonic will stay here in demon world with me, and Touya, Shura, Genkai, Shadow and Tails will go back to human world. The latter two going later after they finish their factfinding mission here. Does that suit everybody?"

Sonic smiled and nodded, "It sounds like a plan to me. You're good at thinking of last-minute strategies, Yusuke. Pretty cool."

Tails smirked and responded, "Yeah, I think you two are gonna get along just fine. But...Sonic and the rest of us need to get back to Mobius ASAP. We were kind of in the middle of something when we got brought over here."

Yusuke responded, "Yeah, that's something to talk to Koenma about later. Right now, though, we could really use your help, Tails. At least stick around long enough to help free the demons and protect the innocent humans. "

Tails grinned and nodded, "Okay, Yusuke. But once things settle down here, we're going home. All of our friends are probably worried about us."


End file.
